Thanks Fire1!

I am very sorry for this late update. This has been a crazy ass month to say the least, and I am glad it is finally over!

Also, I should tell you that I am planning on working on WSI for Camp NaNoWriMo, so I wont be updating this until probably the second week of August. Unless I find some time to work on the next chapter. We will have to see how it all goes… But if I put all my efforts into WSI, that just means I will FINALLY be able to post a chapter for you!

Shall we?

~~NoT~~

Edward's POV:

School no longer felt like purgatory. It was now a mix between heaven and hell. Of course Bella's presence had caused that change. Before her arrival everyday here just seemed to be a repeat of the last. Now, everything was new.

It was heaven because she was making everything brighter and new, I felt so much more eager and excited, even relieved. It felt like I had suddenly found something I'd lost a long time ago, something I had cherished. She was unlike the other children, and I wondered if she was even human. But how unlikely was that?

The electric current that ran through me whenever our skin touched was becoming an addiction to me. Though I knew it was unwise, I still offered her my hand as I walked her to her classes, just to see if it would still be there. It always was, and I couldn't stop myself from craving it.

As we walked to her classes, we began to get to know each other, slowly, shyly, but eagerly. I was amazed at the things she told me about herself. She loved to read, and it seemed she was an avid fan of the classics, though her favorite was not one of mine. Not many high school students would willingly read those types of books. She liked Debussy, surprisingly. She was probably the only seventeen year old in the school that has even heard of Debussy.

I found that I hated leaving her when we reached each of her classes. I wished we could simply keep talking. I could not understand why everything this girl said or did was captivating me… she was just a human! Okay, a human that had me craving her blood one minute, and the next had me inventing opportunities to hold her hand.

A human who felt safer with vampires than she did with humans, someone whose heart rate was far too high, and never changed no matter her emotional state. A human whose hearing was way too advanced, and let's not forget that I couldn't hear her thoughts at all.

Not hearing her thoughts. Yes, that was the start of my hell. My gift had come in handy on many occasions; yet, there have been times, many in fact, when I simply wished that I had my mind to myself. However, with Bella, I wished fervently that I could access her thoughts. It was sheer hell at times to not know what was running through her head.

With Bella and myself falsely proclaiming that we were now in a romantic relationship, my mind was being bombarded with thoughts from all sides. I had learned in my many years on this earth how to push most of the extra thoughts to a dull murmur to the back of my mind. Hearing my name or even thoughts of my family members names always forced those thoughts to front of my mind though, claiming my attention. And now I had to add Bella's name to that list as well.

For the first time in the eighty years sine I had outgrown my 'newborn' stage, I was using my advanced hearing and vampire mind to its fullest. I needed to keep tabs on all the things that the children might want to ask Bella. That way I could help her keep up our lie. There were also my siblings trying to 'help' me in making things seem more real, given the fact that I was the only one in our family without a mate, and have never had a romantic relationship with anyone.

I was also keeping a lookout for Tyler's mind. He, like most humans, knew subconsciously that we were dangerous, and was now steering clear of Bella because of us now. Unfortunately, he was planning another nighttime stalking session. I would have to do something about that tonight.

His thoughts, along with several other males were infuriating me with their need to star Bella in their perverted mental scenes. I found that it made me rage more than when seeing my sisters in their minds this way, and yet, this was another thing I couldn't understand. I kept comforting myself with the thought that my class would end soon and then it would be closer to lunch break and biology with Bella, where I could keep her safe from all the vile thoughts about her.

Once the bell rang I leapt from my seat and made my way to her class so I could be there, waiting again. She looked so relieved when she spotted me, I would have known that Jessica was pestering her with questions, even if I hadn't been checking in on them periodically through Jessica's mind.

Jessica looked over at Bella and whispered in a sugar sweet voice. "You wont be sitting with us today, will you Bella?"

Her spoken words seemed courteous, but her mental voice raged with jealously, and it was tinged with hate.

Bella's tone was kind, and regretful, as it always was when she spoke to her friend. "Sorry Jess, but no. I was planning to sit with Edward and his family today."

"Oh… all right… see you around then." Jessica said her tone was sad on the outside, but sour on the inside.

Bella made her way over to me then, and our eyes immediately locked. I could get lost in the endless depths of them forever. They seemed to be filled with secrets, secrets I could not help but want to uncover. Before I knew what I was doing, my hand claimed hers, and it was strange that it felt so right and natural to do so.

"I hate to tell you this, but I'm afraid my family is waiting to bombard you with their own questions. But don't worry, no one wants to eat you."

'They wont eat you?' What the hell just came out of my mouth?

Bella's amused giggle saved me from my own mental scolding. But I couldn't help but to raise an eyebrow at her. She looked up at me and giggled even more.

"I'm glad I can amuse you." I said with a small laugh of my own.

"Oh, it's just that my friend Jake said something similar last Sunday, and now I'm wondering if I do look particularly edible to people or something."

It was a good thing Jasper was not with us just then, because I would have driven him mad with the emotions coursing through me. The jealously came first at the mention of another man. Then I was confused as to why I would even be jealous in the first place. And then the relief that she had not paid too much attention to what I had just said. That could have been a true disaster.

"Edward… hey, is something wrong?" Bella's whispered voice was full of concern, and I quickly realized that I had been frozen in place for several seconds, trying to sort out what was wrong with me.

"No, I'm fine. Let's go eat, shall we?" Or rather, you'll eat. I added to myself. It would be a disaster if my family ate with the humans.

We entered the cafeteria together, hand in hand. As soon as the other students realized that we were walking through the doors their minds along with their outward attention was on Bella and me. I didn't need Jasper's gift to know that the stares and whispers were causing Bella extreme discomfort.

I grabbed a random assortment of human food, it all smelled the same to me, and was downright disgusting. I watched with interest as Bella also looked over the choices with visible disgust on her face. This surprised me, I thought humans liked lunchtime, and the food at this school was fairly good by human standards. She only grabbed a fruit salad and a cup of soup, along with two iced teas.

"Ring me up for both Bella's and my lunches please." I said to the cashier when we got to the end of the line.

"Edward, you don't need to pay for me." Bella whispered harshly, too low for anyone but me to hear.

"I know I don't need to, I want to." I whispered back just as low.

"Well, thank you, but you don't need to waste your money on me." Her low tone rose to a normal human whisper now that we were out of the range of the cashier and heading to our seats.

"You're welcome, and just so you know, money is not an issue for me." I was going to assume from this brief conversation that there were going to be issues about me spending money on her. She was going to have to get used to it, I was planning on doting on her all I could.

When we reached the table my family claimed, I set our trays down and pulled out the seat next to Emmett and across from Alice for Bella, and I took the seat next to her.

It didn't take long for the questions to start either, and I was surprised that Rosalie was the first to speak up.

"So Bella, how's your first day of being Edward's girlfriend treating you?" Rose asked with a playful smile.

Her thoughts on the other hand betrayed her. She wanted payback for me always being in her head, by asking a question she knew I would be uncomfortable with.

I didn't even need to hear her thoughts to know she was embarrassed. In Jasper's mind I could see that her emotions matched the endearing and warm blush creeping up on Bella's face.

"It's… Well, umm… It has been nice… and somewhat embarrassing at the same time. I very much like getting to know Edward, but it makes me very uncomfortable to have so many people staring and talking about it." Her stammered answer made the blush on her face turn a deeper shade of red.

"Hmm… Well, what would you expect? This is a small town, and you're new. Hell, in terms of small town life, we're still new. But I know what you mean. Half the time I want to tell the people here to mind their own business." Rose informed Bella.

She knew very well that us being together would cause a stir. Rose has always been vain, she loved when people thought she was beautiful, but she hated it when the humans wouldn't stop talking about us.

Jasper was picking up Bella's discomfort at Rose's words and started pondering how this would affect her. Most humans loved attention, and with everyone believing that we're dating, she would be getting a lot of attention. I knew from this morning that she almost instinctively shied away from attention, and that was just another thing that separated her from other humans.

I knew she was hoping that after today people would lose interest and leave us alone, but after what Rose said she now knew that wasn't going to happen. I didn't need to be able to read her mind to know that about her.

"So Bella… how does my brother measure up to the other guys you've dated?" Emmett asked with a huge grin on his face. Then added mentally. 'Let's see how good you really are at dating someone without being in her head!'

Jealousy suddenly coursed through me like liquid fire at the thought of Bella dating someone else. Her words from earlier ran through my mind; 'my friend Jake…'

Jasper quickly pushed as much calm into me as he could while dealing with the jealously that consumed him because of me.

'Edward, what the…? You've never been jealous before! Why now?'

'Could she be his mate? No, she's only human, it's impossible!"

His thoughts continued to roll over in his mind, and if it weren't for the calm he was still directing at me, his thoughts about her being my mate would have made me more confused. I had to admit though that Bella was the first girl I had felt anything for outside of a family or friend bond.

I glanced over at Bella, and she was studiously drinking from her bottle of tea, avoiding Emmett's eyes. It was obvious that she didn't want to answer that question.

"Oh come on kitten, tell the big ole bear. Or is he that bad in comparison?"

She stopped drinking and looked down at her hand before answering him. "To tell you the truth Emmett, I've never dated anyone before. So this thing with Edward is the closest thing I've ever come to dating or having a boyfriend. So there is no one to compare him to.

"Oh…" Was all Emmett could say, he was surprised and disappointed that he wouldn't have anything to tease me with later like he had hoped.

The rest of lunch passed by quickly, with no more uncomfortable questions. Alice asked Bella if she had ever gone and got the heavier curtains for her room, and when she replied in the negative, Alice and Rose immediately started making plans to go to Port Angeles, along with our mother to get some.

As Bella was talking to my sisters I listened carefully while watching her. She never ate a thing, just sipped on her bottles of tea. This caused me to worry to no end about her health. She was just a little too skinny, and I was hoping she did not have an eating disorder.

When the bell rang at the end of lunch, we said good-bye to my family and made our way to biology, hand in hand again.

When Bella and I sat down at our table in class it quickly became apparent that the other students were going to try to listen in to our conversation. Mike was straining his hearing to the utmost trying to catch a snippet of what was going to be said. Even after learning that the two of us were now 'together', he had not diminished his plans on trying to win her affection.

I decided then that we should pass notes to one another so Mike and the other interlopers wouldn't get anything to help them in their crusade to pursuit Bella. I found myself filling with anger at Mike for even entertaining the thought of him with my Bella.

Of course Bella was not mine. She could in fact, at any time chose to end our fake relationship. That thought sent a wave of agony through me. What on earth was the matter with me?

'Was Jasper right? No! That was impossible!'

To take my mind off the sudden agony that she was not truly mine, I pulled a sheet of paper out of my notebook and began writing. I had been wondering what had led her to Forks, so I decided now was the time to just ask her.

Bella,

Sorry that everyone kept trying to listen to what we were saying at lunch. I thought that passing notes would help keep people from gossiping about what we say.

So… you told me you're not fond of cold or wet weather. Forks must be a difficult place for you to live. May I ask what made you move here?

Yours,

Edward

She slid the note towards her, then read it quickly. I could tell that she was trying to write as neat as she could, by the way she was taking her time in her reply.

Edward,

It's true; the weather here in Forks is hard to deal with sometimes. But I didn't have to move here per-se. It's a little complicated.

~Bella

I glanced up at Mr. Banner, where he was at the front of the classroom enthusiastically explaining the Periodic Table, with empathic hand gestures.

Bella,

Does it look like we have anything better to do?

Yours,

Edward

I heard her chuckle as she began to write again.

Edward,

I guess it all started when my mother remarried a few months back. Don't get me wrong, Phil is great, he has to travel a lot and having me around meant that my mom couldn't go with him. You know I was homeschooled all my life, and my mom was the one who did the schooling. When I started going to public school at the beginning of this year, I think she was worried about me fitting in and making friends, so she didn't want to uproot our lives to go traveling with Phil. It was really sweet and self-sacrificing of her of course, but it made me feel bad. Long story short, I volunteered to come here and live with my dad. That's about all there is to it.

~Bella

What she wrote left me in awe of her selflessness. I had gathered throughout our conversations during the day that she loved her mother and Phoenix very much. Most children her age would never have put their parents needs before their own. Which is what she was clearly doing. She would rather forego her own happiness for that of another. It was clear that she was unbelievably selfless and kind.

I looked over at her to find that she was hiding behind her hair. How could she possibly be embarrassed about what she had told me? I raged internally at my inability to hear her thoughts, and swiftly wrote back to her. I was interrupted when Mr. Banner called the class to attention.

"One person from each table needs to come to the supply closet and select a microscope, then please collect a box of samples from my desk." He called out.

Bella let out a long sigh and mumbled that she would get the samples, and I offered to get the microscope. I was disappointed by the interruption, but it was school after all. And we were supposed to be learning, even if I knew the material better than the man teaching it.

I was back at our table before Bella could get the samples. As I watched her walking back to the table while gazing down at the samples, a very unfamiliar feeling crashed over me. It was lust, and it was so strong that it was causing my pants to become tight. Oh no! In all of my one hundred years as a vampire, this had never happened. I had an erection.

I tried to stop myself from looking her up and down, but it was useless. She was wearing form-fitting jeans that rested on her hips, and a lovely blue blouse that set off her skin perfectly. Her eyes were focused minutely on the slides, and even from halfway across the room I could see that she could identify them. She also had a look of dejection on her face. Well, I couldn't have that!

"Is something the matter?" I asked when she reached our table.

"I've done this lab already, that's all." She told me, with disinterest.

"It's not one of the more exciting ones is it?" I asked, trying to get her focus back on me.

"No, it's really not." She replied in a wry tone.

I shrugged, because I didn't know what else to do.

"We'll probably finish quickly then." I said, and then looked over the paper we received.

We went to work right away, and I was just about certain that I was right about her eyesight being as good as her hearing. She barely had to glimpse at the sample through the microscope. Yet another thing to add to the ever-growing list of things that were different about her. We finished the lab in five minutes, so I passed her the note I had written before we were interrupted.

Bella,

That's amazingly compassionate of you. You sacrificed your own happiness for your mothers. I've never seen anything more kind hearted, and I'm humbled by it. Judging by your body language you're embarrassed about it somehow, and I just want to tell you that there is absolutely no reason for you to be so. You're a generous person, and you shouldn't feel bad about it.

Yours,

Edward

Her eyes were shiny with tears as she finished reading, and I was overcome with panic. No, no, no! What I wrote to her was not supposed to make her cry! It was meant to help her see that she was a good person, and should not be embarrassed about it!

She glanced at me and there was gratitude in her eyes. Hmm, I must have moved her, not upset her then. That was a good sign. I looked back at her, and tried to fill my gaze with compassion. She bent back over the page, her face a deep shade of red again, and I could hear her scribbling something quickly, and then passed the note back to me.

Edward,

Wow… Thank you very much. I wish I could say how much that means to me. It's like you knew exactly what to say. Do you always read people's minds?

~Bella

No! Had I given my talent away somehow? How had she guessed? Had I been that obvious when I told her how to answer Jessica's questions earlier? Did she know what we were?

We would have to leave if she did. When the thought of having to leave hit me I knew I was in trouble, because I knew in that moment there was no way for me to leave her. I knew what this meant; I just wasn't ready to admit it to myself.

Bella's whisper finally pulled me back to myself. "Edward? Edward I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Edward? I was kidding… are you okay? Edward…"

Then, without even knowing what I was doing I was writing a reply back to her.

Bella, I really hope you were kidding!

I was so lost in myself still; I didn't realize that I had practically shoved the paper in her face.

I could tell that Bella wanted to keep talking, but Mr. Banner called the class to order. After telling everyone to put their things away, I knew he needed to speak to us about the paper we were to write together, so we went to his desk after all the students left the class.

He explained what he wanted us to do; it was a dull, straightforward assignment. As it turned out, Bella was advanced for a human, though she tried to hide it. Given her hearing and now her eyesight, this news did not come as a surprise to me.

I could hear in his thought as he compared Bella to her mother and her aunt, particularly noting her hair color and academic aptitude. I had not expected that he would voice it to her though.

"Bella, I have to say you're just like your Aunt Nikki. I would suspect your parents tell you that all the time. I know Renee and Nikki were twins, but you look just like Nikki, and you're a better student then she was, and that's saying a lot. But I'll see you two tomorrow okay?"

Mr. Banner went to leave after his statement, as this was his last class for the day and he was heading to the teacher's lounge. As he left, I went to take her hand and walk her to her next class just like I had done all day, but she was frozen in place.

I looked back at her, and I knew something was terribly wrong. She was totally frozen, I had never seen a human stand as still as a vampire before, but she was doing just that.

Then, ever so quietly, she whispered. "She's just like…" it was so quiet that I wondered if she even knew she was speaking.

Her voice was filled with shock, disbelief, and confusion. To say that I was yet again confused would be an understatement. Seeing her in pain pulled me out of my own denial, I was in love with her. She is my mate, and would be for the rest of eternity.

I did not have time to go over what all this would mean for her or me, because right in front of me my mate was suffering. I could not allow this! She was not ever to suffer. I placed both my hands on either side of her perfect face, and lowered my eyes to look directly in hers.

"Bella?" I whispered. "Bella, what's the matter?"

She blinked, and some of the glaze left her eyes. She shook her head slowly, as if clearing a mist from her head.

"I'm fine," she murmured "I'm okay."

"Bella."

She stared up at me, helpless and confused. Her family must have a very sore spot for Nikki, considering that she died right around the time Bella was born.

"Your parents don't talk about Nikki very much do they?" I asked gently. "It must be a painful topic for them."

She shook her head, still slowly, though now with more intention. "They never talk about her." Her eyes were wide and staring. "Until right now, I never even knew I had an Aunt Nikki."

She started to cry, tears sliding silently down her cheeks. Unable to do anything, but unable to bear seeing her in such pain I gathered her up in my arms and held her close to me, rocking gently back and forth.

"It will be okay Bella. I'll make it okay…"

She cried for a long time, and I held her even after she stopped.